Everything is Nurtured

Indigenous communities know they cannot take from their environment without giving back to it in return. It is a reciprocal relationship that puts nurturing everything around them at the centre of their lifeways.

Towards the close of the ‘Creation Hymn’ (Gen 1)[1] God says:

“ … fill the earth and subdue (kabash) it and have dominion (radah) …” [2]

Tragically, over the centuries many have taken this single biblical word ‘dominion’ as a license to wreak devastation across the face of our planet. When in fact the true understanding of this word radah is actually ‘nurture’. The two words, kabash (‘to stamp on’) and radah (‘to rule over’) come from the language of ancient kingship, which was indeed coercive, but here God is taking these words and subverting them. As humans we are called to ‘image God’.[3] God’s example of kingship is shaped by ‘meekness’,[4] which is ‘strength under perfect control’, that powerful gentleness at the heart of all true dominion. God rules with love, mercy and compassion, each of which are central nurturing values.

However, these two words, kabash and radah, remind us there are times when the earth is threatened and we have a responsibility and the authority ‘to stamp’ on the threat and eliminate it. Nurturing involves us being guardians.

Kabash and radah also remind us of the astonishing human capacity to impact creation both for good as well as harm. Jewish rabbis teach that the phrase ‘have dominion’ (v’yirdu) has a sense of ‘to descend’. They say that to truly image God we must always show appropriate nurturing dominion to animals and wild nature. If we fail we will descend below them and they will rule over us. However, if we truly image God in our nurturing then creation ‘ascends’ to become paradise. When we fail the world ‘descends’ into the darkness of ecological destruction. Simply looking at wild nature around us - flourishing or languishing – tells us the extent to which we are exercising true dominion.

The phrase v’yirdu also has the sense of ‘to go down’, ‘to wander’ and ‘to spread’. This leads some rabbis to suggest it is a call for us to ‘descend’ from our position of power and ‘wander’ within wild nature as an equal and nurturing companion.

All these ideas are deepened by two key words from the ‘Eden Story’ (Gen 2):

“The Lord God placed the human in the garden of Eden

to work it (abad) and take care of it (shamar)” [5]

Both abad (‘to take care of’) and shamar (‘to watch over and preserve’) are an instruction to serve and nurture wild nature in a way that enables it to flourish and achieve its full potential.

‘Everything is nurtured’, also includes all humans. True dominion makes sure every injustice and want is removed wherever it is found, whether among poor and destitute humans, or within wild nature. We also challenge and work to overthrow all destructive systems and structures that prevent creation in its totality from thriving.

[1] In this piece we refer to the biblical creation stories in Genesis because we believe they give a profound insight into how we should understand the world and how we should act within it. We believe in evolution, so do not see these stories as an historical account of how the world came into being

[2] Gen 1:28

[3] Gen 1:27

[4] See Zech 9:9-10

[5] Gen 2:15